10 Questions To Ask An RPO Company Before Using Its Services

Various recruitment industry surveys have indicated that staffing and recruiting agencies are often concerned about choosing the right RPO partner for outsourcing their recruitment services. Staffing companies are often unsure whether the offshore recruitment agency can source the best available candidates, cater to a specific industry, and promote their business.

In the case of offshore recruiting, there is more uncertainty and anxiety as the cost of recruiting errors is substantially higher owing to additional financial expenditure (work permit, relocation, replacement). Therefore, finding the right offshore recruitment services provider can be challenging.

It is important to carefully scrutinize and filter prospective offshore recruitment agencies before you partner up with them and engage their RPO services. You must ensure that your offshore RPO partner can provide you with the best candidates and represent your company well in the marketplace.

This checklist has useful information to help you select the best RPO partner and to provide you with the ten most important questions to ask before choosing an offshore recruitment agency.

A checklist of 10 questions to ask an RPO company before hiring its services

1. How long has the offshore recruitment agency been operating?

The longer an offshore agency has been carrying its business effectively, the higher its chance of being reliable. An agency that consistently provides good candidates and quality services to its clients stays in business longer and can represent your business well.

2. What is the turnover ratio of consultants at the offshore recruitment agency?

An agency with high turnover levels of its recruitment consultants cannot provide stability to your projects. It is crucial to determine how long the consultants have been working with the agency as a higher turnover indicates instability. Such service providers should be avoided as it can be frustrating to deal with different consultants whenever you call to explain your hiring requirements. To check the agency’s turnover ratio, you can check their LinkedIn profile or ask your contacts how long they have been working with the agency.

3. How experienced is the team working with you?

Ask your offshore agency about the experience level of the recruitment consultants working with you. Is the staff you will work with experienced enough to handle your hiring requirements? Experienced consultants have a wider network of offshore contact and effective sourcing practices and are better positioned to offer quality services. You can also make enquiries from your contacts about the duration they have been working in this sector to find out about their experience level.

4. How many offshore clients do they have?

Reputable recruitment outsourcing companies have a good record of working with repeat clients and should be able to provide all necessary details. A good record of satisfying all clients they have worked with indicates their service quality and experience ranging over time. It will also be better to work with recruitment agencies that have worked with companies like yours and outsourced for the exact location or geographies.

5. Do they have the expertise to recruit for your sector?

Specialist sectoral knowledge and professional expertise is key to successfully recruiting candidates in this highly competitive marketplace. Question your prospective agency about their experience in recruiting for your specific sector and their experience dealing with offshore candidates for the roles you are hiring for.

6. Who will be your point of contact?

It would help if you asked the service provider before signing up with them about the team or recruiters who will be working with you. Enquiring about their expertise, experience, and skills. The recruiter assigned to you may differ from the person who initially convinced you to partner with the offshore RPO provider. Many companies have different teams for sales and operations, and you need to be sure that you will be working with the right people regardless.

7. How does the agency source its candidates?

The agency you choose must have an overall selection process and a large talent pool accessible to their recruiters. A recruitment agency needs top-quality marketing, advertising, and referral sourcing to tap the best talent and connect with active and passive candidates from their talent pipeline. It would help if you asked your agents to explain their talent sourcing process. Also, enquire about their screening and selection process. Agencies that already work for your industry will have a ready pool of relevant candidates in their database and can help with a quick turnaround of CVs in case of urgent vacancies.

8. What is their placement success rate?

The success rate of placement of the recruitment agency indicates their efficiency in hiring the right candidates. A good recruiter will have track records to show their performance data relating to the average time they take to engage candidates and the number of placements that last the initial two-year contract period.

9. What are their cost and fee structures?

Offshore recruitment agencies charge a fee for their recruitment services, including permanent, temporary, and contractual. Ask the agency for a breakup of the various costs involved before you engage their services. You should also have a copy of their Terms & Conditions, signed and agreed mutually, before the agency starts to work on your requirements. Agencies may also offer discounts if they want to create long-term relationships with the clients. Discuss your recruitment plan for the next 6-12 months and check the agency’s flexibility to maintain an ongoing relationship and do repeat business with you.

10. Do they offer any candidate guarantee?

A right offshore recruitment agency which is confident of its ability to source suitable candidates may be able to offer a candidate guarantee. Checking this before choosing your RPO partner is better as companies provide various benefits in lieu. These can be free candidate replacements for unsuccessful candidates, reduced fees or refunds in case the agency is unable to deliver or things do not go as planned.

To better understand how RPO works, read our Complete Guide to RPO Services!

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Originally published Jul 25, 2022 04:07:48, updated Jan 25 2024

Topics: Offshore Recruitment Agency, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, RPO Checklist